


Queen and Pawn Endgame

by Wasuremono



Category: Exalted
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-20
Updated: 2010-12-20
Packaged: 2017-10-13 20:06:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/141266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wasuremono/pseuds/Wasuremono
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Scarlet Empress returns to Creation, and she has plans of her own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Queen and Pawn Endgame

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sleepfighter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepfighter/gifts).



> Thanks go out to S. and palmedfire for their beta work. Any errors in canonicity that remain are solely my own.

Never again would I take Creation for granted.

As I strode down the hallway, I only wished that I had the time to truly appreciate the simple rightness of the world. The air in my lungs was sweet, and the jade floor underfoot reassured me with every step that I was home at last. How desperately I wished to savor that sensation! I knew all too well that there was no time even to reacquaint myself with my Manse. My lord was watching me, and even in my sanctum, there was no hope of solitude.

Just thinking of him slowed my step. For a creature who had never known love, the Ebon Dragon had a keen grasp of its principles, and even the slightest memory of him now risked throwing me into a reverie of love. I dreamed of pleasing him, and the comfortable feeling of his will curled around my hindbrain made it clear that I would, the better to return to his side. Had I ever wanted anything or anyone more?

 _You have,_ said the part of my mind that remained rational. _Focus on it._

The Ebon Dragon understood the principles of love, perhaps, but he had a great deal to learn about the human heart. Like all demons, he was a creature of a single guiding urge, unable to comprehend the contradictions of which we less primordial beings are capable. Never in my life has a single love consumed me, save for the love of Creation itself; many consorts had tried to win pride of place in my heart, and in the end, they had all failed. As powerfully as I loved my new husband, I refused to let him be the first to claim me so completely.

At last, I found the door I sought: pearlescent white and nondescript, with only its size to distinguish it from the other doors lining the Nautilus Hallway. Even in the privacy of the Imperial Manse, I always relished this door's anonymity. The power at the back of my mind stirred, sluggish but curious, and I pushed it aside as I opened the door.

I had no time for the Ebon Dragon. Creation and my child both needed me.

* * *

_"Mama, what will happen when he comes for me?"_

_Lillun's mother didn't meet her eyes, and she was frowning -- in what looked like fear, not anger. Lillun had never seen her mother afraid before, and even the idea made her feel queasy from nerves. What could Mama possibly be afraid of?_

_"I am not certain what will happen," Mama said at last, slowly and carefully. "I know he will take you and carry you to Malfeas, but I do not know what use he will have for you there. He... I know he will not be kind to you, Lillun."_

_"I know," Lillun replied, shifting forward in her seat and trying harder to catch her mother's gaze. How else could she show her that she wasn't afraid? "Demons can't be kind, can they? You can order them to act like they are, but they can't really be. And he's just a big demon." It felt like a class recitation, but maybe it would give Mama some confidence in her._

_"That he is. You need to remember that, my child: he is only a demon, and demons are ours to command. He will hurt you, but you are a Princess of the Earth, and he has no power over you." Mama looked towards her at last, but Lillun couldn't read her face. Did she doubt her? Lillun knew she wasn't Mnemon, and she knew it wouldn't be easy being a hostage in Hell, but she knew she'd be all right. Wouldn't she?_

_"He'll hurt me," Lillun said, as much to herself as to her mother, "but he can't break me. And when I've done my part, I'll come home. How soon will I be done, Mama?"_

_"I wish I knew," she replied. Slowly, she stood up and walked towards Lillun before enfolding her in her arms. It was the first time in Lillun's memory that her mother had hugged her, and the sensation of being held close was so strange that Lillun barely knew what to do. Her body knew, though; before she realized it, she was clinging to her._

_"I'm sorry, my darling," Mama whispered, stroking at Lillun's hair. "I'm sorry."_

* * *

The room behind the Nautilus Hallway door was just as I had remembered it: a sitting room built for one, made even smaller by its shelf-lined walls. Its previous inhabitants had no doubt used this room as a library, but I preferred it as a repository of memories. The shelves were lined with gifts from children, lovers, and friends alike, and I had always found it an ideal place for contemplation. Under the weight of my duties, sometimes even the facts of my own life seemed to slip away from me.

I scanned the shelves, searching through the scores of precious things for the tools I would need. The first I found was an adamant-enameled trinket box, a courting gift from some half-remembered suitor, and I set it aside on the table. Soon I had laid my hands upon the other tool: a white jade knife I remembered well. Mnemon had made it as an artificing project during her first year at the Versino and presented it to me with childlike pride; the craftsmanship was inelegant, but the blade was keen, and it held all the strength of white jade. It would do its job.

As I carried the knife to the table, the Ebon Dragon began to stir in my mind, and I felt a tingle coming from my ring finger. I risked a glimpse at the finger and my wedding band, the ring that bound me to the Ebon Dragon in more than just symbolic union. The band of blackened gold seemed such a fragile thing, but I knew all too well that it was immutable, invested as it was with the power of a Yozi. The wedding band was far stronger than my flesh could ever be.

For perhaps the only time in my life, I was grateful that my flesh could yield.

How could I do this? I loved him, and he only wanted what was best for us both, a dominion we could rule together. To reject my bond to him was cruel beyond imagining. I forced myself to remember that he was just as cruel, and at last, my hand was able to close around Mnemon's knife. The power of the white jade steadied my hand, and even as my mind revolted, I forced the blade down and through my finger.

The pain was as nothing compared to the joy. At once, I knew my will was my own again, free of the haze of love with which the wedding band had burdened me. The Ebon Dragon had surely felt the severing, and I knew he would have contingencies to deal with me and win me back, but he had never seen me at the height of clarity. I could not punish him for every indignity he had committed, but I could undo his plans nonetheless.

My wound had already sealed itself, and I could proceed. I picked up the severed finger gingerly, careful not to touch the metal of the wedding band, and placed it inside the trinket box. With a thought and a glimmer of Essence, the box locked itself; the enchantment was trifling, but this deep in the Manse, the wedding band could not have been more secure in a First Age tomb. I placed the box and its perilous cargo on a far shelf, relieved beyond words to be free of it.

Now, unbound by infatuation and unwatched, I could take the final step. I found the last treasure my plan needed: a bracelet woven out of dark hair interspersed with prayer strips. I had borrowed the tradition from Sijan; grotesque as it was, the hair bracelet reinforced the sorcery perfectly. Looping the bracelet around my hand, I began to utter the syllables that would trigger the spell.

That the spell would actually function seemed impossible, but I had become accustomed to impossible things. I had faith in my own strength, and I had faith in the strength of my daughter.

* * *

_There was pain, there was emptiness, and then there was light._

_Lillun's mind stirred from its long sleep. It took her a moment to realize the light she felt wasn't the ever-present glow of the green sun but something different -- something real-feeling, as if she'd opened the window on a pretty morning. Was it morning at last?_

_Soon, the breeze began: not one of the Malfean winds, but a real breeze, cool and refreshing on her face. As it grew stronger, Lillun felt a strange sensation, tickling and cool. The growing cold shocked Lillun into true wakefulness, and it was then she could feel her body growing and changing._

_Lucid again, she recognized the sensation: the way it had felt when she'd Exalted._

_There was squealing all around her, and Lillun opened her eyes to find demons scattering away from her. One glance down at her body, and she understood why: what had been filthy skin was now flawless sky-blue scales. She still felt too large and heavy, but her body was lean and snakelike now. Her first Exaltation had made her Dragon-Blooded, but this one had made her a dragon._

_Lillun shot forward, and acting on instinct, she launched herself up. The air held her weight, and none of the demons scrambling to catch up could match her speed; while her rational mind noted some of them sounding alarms, the rest of her was content just to soar. With her new eyes, she could see the cracks in the Malfean sky where creatures of Creation could slip through. If she could reach one before the Ebon Dragon caught up, she'd be free._

_A humming from behind her meant the agata were on her trail. With one lash of her tail, Lillun sent one of the wasps and its rider screaming into the side of a brass minaret, and she continued her ascent as the others hastened to catch up. The crack was so close now, and Lillun forced herself to go faster, newly-acquired muscle memory keeping her a few lengths ahead of the agata. At last, the Malfean sky broke open for her, exploding in a blinding burst of green light._

_When Lillun could see again, she was hovering over the ocean -- the real Western ocean! She could hear seabirds in the distance, and the sea air smelled fresher than she could ever remember. She was back in Creation! Lillun circled back, making sure that the gateway she'd come through was closed now, and then she spun in the air in sheer relief. Even on her best days in Malfeas, she'd been sure she'd never see Creation again, and now she was nearly home._

_Even in her joy, though, she knew her mission wasn't done. Some inborn compass sent her north, and in a few minutes' swift flight, a chain of islands came into view. She swooped low, following nothing but instinct, but she knew her target when she saw it: a ziggurat of coral and pale stone, topped by a pearlescent archway. Mama had told her about gateways like this, and in the form of a dragon, she'd be owed safe passage through._

_Lillun's Essence flared as she flew through the gateway, and she was lost again in light, on her way to Heaven._

* * *

"Your Highness. Forgive me my tardiness."

I glanced towards the door of the observation chamber at the figure who had entered: a golden-skinned woman of Western feature and elegant bearing, dressed in the cerulean robes and bearing the starry blue eyes of a Chosen of Serenity. "Chejop Kejak will be here soon, but he has sent me in his stead."

"Of course," I replied, unable to keep myself from looking back at the glass wall separating me from the medical chamber. Behind the glass, the healing gods of Yu-Shan scurried, jewel-carapaced ant people with ethereal wings; a full six of them surrounded the bed where I knew my daughter lay. In the hour since I had arrived at the Pagoda of Resplendent Health, I had managed only a few glimpses of Lillun through the swarm, and I could only assume the worst. "How is she? Can you tell me?"

"She is exhausted," said my Sidereal minder, "but she is healing. She is under the personal care of Lady Myrancthe, and the Lady has assured me that Lillun is in no further danger."

"Give the Lady my thanks, then, and tell her that whatever favor I have earned in Heaven I wish called in to speed her recovery. My child has earned a respite from pain."

"Your child has earned a great deal more than that. It was astounding enough that she survived the transformation and arrived here alive, but beyond that, she delivered nearly forty Malfeas-tainted Solar Exaltation shards to the Bureau of Heaven. Lytek's favor alone should provide for her care. Although..."

Long ago, I had learned to worry when one of the Sidereal Exalted fell silent, and this was no exception. "What is it?"

"There have been questions asked about this situation," said the Sidereal, speech slower and more careful. My worry deepened. "Some have questioned your and Lillun's integrity, and even those who trust you -- which, I hasten to add, includes Chejop Kejak and myself -- do not fully understand what has happened. Your Highness, with all due respect, what happened to you?"

I was uncertain where to begin, so I began as I usually do: with the most dangerous element. "If there are those who do not trust me, I will submit myself to any examination that proves necessary, but you will find nothing in my nature changed. Do you truly think the celestial lions would have admitted me to Yu-Shan otherwise?"

"No, certainly not. Like I said, I have full faith in you. However, there are those among the Gold Faction who have certain speculations."

"Then they are welcome to investigate on their own. I certainly await hearing their theories on what brilliant plan of the Ebon Dragon would involve sacrificing forty Infernal Exaltations to allow two Dragon-Blooded akuma, one of them a comatose child, into Heaven."

For a moment, the Sidereal's mouth quirked in what seemed to be amusement. "You make a fine point, and I am certain that Ura will make them see sense soon enough. In the meantime, though, what are we to tell them?"

"Tell them that I expect an audience with both factions as soon as it can be arranged, to discuss the state of Creation and how we might change it. Tell them I have seen what the Yozis plan for us, and I refuse to play futilely at soldiers any longer. Dragon-Blooded and Celestial alike are dying to determine who rules Creation, but if we continue this way, we shall be left to rule over a cinder."

"And what shall I tell Kejak that you propose?"

"I propose that the factions join forces to hunt down the Infernal Exalted remaining in Creation, first and foremost. The Ebon Dragon's Exaltation anchors are undone, and if we strike down his servants now, their Exaltations will pass beyond his control forever; it is imperative that we strike before he has time to regain control. I trust the Gold Faction will recognize their interests in this matter."

"Mm," said the Sidereal. "Speaking frankly, Your Highness, it is ambitious. I suspect the Gold Faction will want rather more than the promise of more shards for Lytek." I knew full well that she was right, but the gorge rose in my throat nonetheless.

"They have every option to refuse. If they do, the world will continue in its course; the Wyld Hunt will continue to consider the Anathema the enemies of Creation, and their precious Solars will continue to squander their gifts fighting petty wars and showing the world why they were deposed. Soon enough, the Yozis will rebuild their machinery of conquest, and we will all fall."

"They will argue that, but argument is the way of our assembly. I will see to it that an audience is called. You will need Kejak's support, of course, but I think it will be quickly enough given. Speaking privately... he is feeling his age, and his patience for this bloody stalemate wears thin."

"Everyone's patience fails in time, young Chosen. Kindly deliver the message as soon as you are able; I would do it myself, but I dare not leave the Pagoda for now."

"As you wish." The Sidereal hesitated, another strange break in her poise, and then spoke. "I wish you both the best, Your Highness. My son isn't much younger than Lillun."

"Thank you," I replied, a touch taken aback. How long had it been since anyone had spoken to me as a peer about a personal matter? Even my lovers regarded me in a certain analytical light, and I could hardly blame them for it. This young one was brave. "I most sincerely thank you."

"You are welcome, Your Highness," she said, bowing before she took her leave. Once again, I was alone. It was only a matter of time before the negotiations began, and there was a great many problems left to address, my formal homecoming not least among them. Returning to a place of power and trust would be a delicate process, and even if the Gold Faction and its allies were willing to come to terms with us, reconciliation would take many years. Perhaps, I thought with a jolt, I would not live to see the fruits of this labor.

I was hopeful that Lillun would.

The healing gods had grown sparser now in her room, and I could at last see my daughter clearly through the glass. She was deathly pale, and I could make out several Malfean scars that the draconic transformation could not erase, but her sleep seemed peaceful. Above all else, she was herself again -- and, I realized as I stepped closer, not just herself again, but her proper self. She seemed a bit taller now, and her face had taken on a womanly cast; this was my daughter as she should have been, as if time had erased her three years in Hell and put better ones in their place. I knew those terrible years would never leave her, but perhaps her destiny was returning to its proper course at last.

If Lillun's destiny could be healed, then it was possible that Creation's could be as well. It would take all my strength and all my remaining years to even begin, but it was what I owed the world and my descendants. Lillun had been brave enough to finish our work in Malfeas; I had some measure of faith that she would be able to finish it in Creation as well.

In that quiet room, with hope growing again in my heart, I watched my daughter sleep.


End file.
